New Member Spotlight
How did you hear about EO, and what inspired you to join?
DN: “A close friend and EO member suggested I join. Our company has had fairly significant growth in the past 13 years, and he recognized I was struggling with certain aspects of my business; mainly, the fact that I have my fingers in too many issues on a day-to-day basis. Additionally, we recently purchased the shares of a significant and strategic partner, and the idea of having a group of people who could offer their thoughts, especially on long-term issues, is important to me.”
What would people be surprised to learn about your global exporting business?
DN: “About 15% of our business is tied to the export of canary seed from Canada, which has no human food use— it’s for the birds! Canada is the dominant global trader of canary seed and Latin countries tend to consume the largest volumes. The other 85% of our exporting business focuses on red and green lentil exports, which of course is for human consumption.”
Your business is known for its efficient movement of farm products to end users. What tip can you offer regarding how to develop greater efficiencies?
DN: “I think supply-chain logistics is more about constant cost analysis than anything. Since our company exports in U.S. dollars, something as simple as a shift in USD/CAD can determine if we ship grain to Vancouver or Montreal because our domestic freight costs shift with the dollar. I also think that visiting supply-chain customers can create great paybacks.”
You stress the importance of honesty and transparency in your business. How do you go about engraining that into your company culture?
DN: “It’s a funny question because I have never had to try and engrain those values. We hire strong people and show them how we treat both our vendors and customers. I will never ask a staff member to push the principles of our business, and they know it.”
What insights do you bring to the EO community, and what are you hoping to get in return as a member?
DN: “I think one of my greatest strengths has been building customer relationships, especially in destination markets, so hopefully some of those insights will help others, irrespective of the destination of their products. I hope to learn from others who have taken their businesses through the next growth phase and how they were able to build teams to achieve success.”
Welcome David to EO— contact him at
[email protected].
